Congress leader Veerappa Moily on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the suicide of a farmer named Gajendra Singh at the Aam Aadmi Party's rally, and said a mere apology on part of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would not be enough.
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"Apology alone will not be enough, but ultimately, there is laxity on
the part of the people who organised the rally. Even 75 minutes after
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the suicide, the speeches went on. And, I think, the time has come to
not only inquire into this but the entire questions of farmers suicide
all over the country which includes the lowest agriculture credit
which is given in the current year," Moily told the media here.
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"There should be a judicial probe to look into all these things by a
sitting Supreme Court judge that alone can being out some solution.
And ultimately, what is important is solution for the problems of the
farmers," he added.
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Earlier in the day, Kejriwal acknowledged that he had made a mistake
by continuing to speak at his party's 'Kisan Rally', even as the
farmer had committed suicide, admitting that he should have called off
the rally.
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"Two days ago, during the Aam Aadmi Party's 'Kisan Rally' at Jantar
Mantar, a farmer committed suicide. It was a very painful event and
personally for me it was more painful as I have not experienced
anything like this ever before in my life. When his body was brought
down, we got to know he was still alive and he was rushed to the
hospital by Aam Aadmi Party volunteers. After that I started to give
my speech and said 'I don't feel like talking'," Kejriwal told ANI.
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"I was supposed to speak for an hour, but somehow tried to wrap it up
in 15-20 minutes. I think, yes, this was my mistake. Maybe I should
not have spoken at that time. But, I could not make it out at that
time. I apologise if anyone's sentiments have been hurt by it," he
added.
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Kejriwal further said that the debates surrounding the issue over the
past two days have not helped solve the issues of the farmer.
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"Whatever is going on from last two-three days is not correct. The
police and the magistrate are conducting their respective enquiries.
Whoever is the culprit should be punished. Punish them, but bring back
the focus of debate to the fact that farmers of the country are
committing suicide," he said.
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Gajendra had committed suicide on Wednesday by hanging himself from a
tree during an Aam Aadmi Party rally against the Land Acquisition Bill
in New Delhi.
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As per reports, a suicide note was found that revealed the farmer, who
had three children, was banished from his house after his crop was
damaged. He took the extreme step because he had no means of support
his family.
